An environmental decision

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

I've been thinking more and more lately about how much I do that is bad for the Earth. One thing I decided this morning, just out of the blue, is to stop bagging my comics. I'm not sure why I do bag them. It's just, well, what we collectors do. Thing is, though, I don't keep my comics somewhere that they need that kind of protection. It's not like I need to protect their value, either. They aren't going to be worth anything. I think that's realism, not pessimism.

Anyway, ceasing to use polybags may be a very small step in the more Earth-friendly direction but I'm glad to do it.

[Mr. Satanism]

It definitely makes them more accessible, too.

[Rich Lane]

It's a little thing, but if enough people do the little things, they add up to big things.

Good for you, Jeff.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Mr. Satanism said:

It definitely makes them more accessible, too.

This is true. I never got into the habit of bagging, except for a few things I personally value and want to protect. You get more comics into a box without bags & boards, and it's easier to look through them.

[ClarkKent_DC]

All the comics bags and boards I have are from back issues I've bought or otherwise acquired. I just recycle them on my other comics, my most precious ones.

[Figserello]

ClarkKent_DC said:

All the comics bags and boards I have are from back issues I've bought or otherwise acquired. I just recycle them on my other comics, my most precious ones.

I'm the same. I don't think I've ever bought a set of bagging bags. I think the bags serve a purpose. When I have them stacked by the bed, they'd get stood on and what not, so the bags allow them to get fairly rough treatment and still be fairly ok. Also, they help keep the comics in middling condition when I lend them out to the hoi polloi.

I typically store about 5 comics in each bag, though, or an entire storyline or whatever. Then I can pretend its a TPB! (Also it stops them straying from their fellows - a good thing both when they're by the bed, or in the long boxes. A good run of 40 issues might be only 6-8 bags of comics.) With all the back issues I buy, I always have plenty of bags left over for my 'off the shelf' comics.

My only issue with recycling like this, is that if I buy a bagged comic (usually from the bargain bins) that has been sitting in back issue boxes for the last 10-20 years, it has been groped and rifled through by maybe 100's if not 1,000's of fanboys (and girls, maybe) so they have a ...greasy... surface. I'm always glad to wash my hands after an hour grubbing through the back issue bins!

But to keep buying new bags for new comics is probably a bit sore on Mother Earth. Good on you, Cav.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Well I bag all of my comics, and I don't worry one whit about it. Maybe if I was throwing away a bunch of plastic bags in a land fill, but using them? Not so much.